All posts tagged ‘Antarctica’

The side seats were actually way more comfortable than the pallatized airline seats. More room to stretch your legs and more shoulder room. Comfort wise it really wasn't too bad at all. Air Force gave us a very smooth ride.

The side seats were actually way more comfortable than the pallatized airline seats. More room to stretch your legs and more shoulder room. Comfort wise it really wasn't too bad at all. Air Force gave us a very smooth ride.

Getting over the ice flows.

A self-portrait on a chilly day. I had to put the camera away after this. It was on the walk back that the winds REALLY picked up. Current air temp is -4 dgF with a windchill of -28 dgF.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Looking out at the Ross Ice Shelf from the Crary Science Center. — at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

The heliport, right by my dorm at the base of Observation Hill.

NASA control center.

Fire house. — at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

The MacTown hospital. — at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

McMurdo and Scott's hut.

Expedition rations. — at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

Supplies for hot cocoa.

GeekDad contributor Brian McLaughlin is taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica as part of his work with NASA, and is sharing it with us via pictures. You can also follow Brian’s exploits on his Facebook page.

The new documentary series Frozen Planet is by itself an explanation for why HDTV exists. The beauty is so breathtaking, so jaw-droppingly gorgeous, that you may find yourself rewinding bits of it just so you can see it again right away. This is the mission of all good nature documentaries, of course: to be so compellingly beautiful that you may not even notice how much you’re learning. And Frozen Planet has a lot to teach us.

Following in the footsteps of the tours de force that were 2006′s Planet Earth and 2009′s Life, Frozen Planet was made by the BBC’s Natural History Unit, a group whose name scarcely begins to describe the lengths its members will go to produce documentaries. As with its predecessors, it’s been re-cut and had re-narrated for the American audience — this time Alec Baldwin takes on the narration, and lends the production a comfortable American voice with enough gravitas that you hang on his every word.

If all good documentaries aim to show their viewers a part of the world they will probably never see, or to present the world in a way they could never see any other way, then Frozen Planet succeeds in spades. The arctic and antarctic regions of the planet are both its most remote and harshest environments, and ones that only a very small percentage of people will ever visit. And even those who do will likely never see polar bears fight over a mate, or watch killer whales produce waves precisely crafted to knock seals off of ice floes. Certainly few humans will ever spelunk through the caves beneath Antarctica’s Mount Erebus, and witness firsthand what must be the most amazingly gorgeous ice crystals that have ever existed. Frozen Planet brings all of this, and a whole lot more, to you in the comfort of your living room. And, like most nature documentaries, it uses slow-motion to bring you, say, the beauty of an owl in mid-flight, and speeds up sequences so you can, say, marvel at how a brinicle forms (the first time this has ever been filmed, incidentally).

Frozen Planet also serves as a wake-up call about climate change, but not in a preachy or political way. The makers simply show you the facts of what has been happening to the arctic and antarctic, and explains what the future consequences of this change could be for the creatures of those areas — and the creatures of populated areas, too. The final episode of the series, titled “On Thin Ice” (which was not available for review) is hosted on-camera by naturalist David Attenborough, addresses the issue of global warming head-on, and early reports that the episode would not be shown in its entirety in the U.S. were incorrect.

Captain Robert F. Scott in his quarters during the British Antarctic Expedition. Image: American Museum of Natural History

In 1910, two teams of explorers set sail for Antarctica. Both had the same goal: to be the first to reach the South Pole. Which team would reach it first depended on many factors, not the least of which was technology. But the competition between the two team leaders may have made the journey even more dangerous than it would ordinarily be.

The British expedition, led by Robert Falcon Scott, was state-of-the-art. Among their scientific gear were specially-designed cold-weather clothing and new-fangled motorized tractors with caterpillar treads. Roald Amundsen was a seasoned Arctic adventurer. He preferred traditional styles of clothing used by the Netsilik Inuit in northern Canada, and relied on time-tested means of transportation including cross-country skiing and dog sleds. The world waited with bated breath to see which would be the first to succeed.

A new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York called Race to the End of the Earth, uses video, dioramas and historical artifacts to show how Scott and Amundsen each planned and designed his expedition, and how well they fared. (Spoiler: One of them didn’t make it back.) We get to peek into the Scott’s well-stocked hut, which included all his scientific apparatus as well as his collections of Sherlock Holmes and Shakespeare. A recreation of Amundsen’s camp lets us see a ski workroom, just part of his expedition’s underground warren of ice caves and tunnels. The exhibit includes lots of historical photographs from the two teams, as well as plenty of explanatory signs to tell you what you’re seeing.

A modern-day polar pod. Image: American Museum of Natural History

At the end of the exhibit is a section on Antarctica today, which shows the kind of extreme-weather equipment used by modern-day polar explorers. (A cute little pre-fab igloo looks a little like the pod from 2001: A Space Odyssey.) There’s also a look at the penguins, leopard seals and other wildlife that inhabits the continent, as well as fossils that prove Antarctica and Africa were once connected. Race to the End of the Earth is open now through January 2011. It’s just one of dozens of worthwhile exhibits at the museum, one of my family’s favorite places to visit when we’re down in New York.

By the way, children’s author Jennifer Armstrong has an excellent book for kids about Antarctic adventurers called Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. It describes the ill-fated expedition a few years later by Ernest Shackleton to cross the continent by land. After being trapped by ice and bad for more than year, Shackleton was able to go for help and bring his entire crew home safely.

The festival coincides with the opening of Race To The End Of The Earth . This amazing exhibit chronicles the courage, strength and determination of two competing teams of explorers to be the first to reach the South Pole.

So if your in New York and you want to chill with the family and learn about Antarctica head on over to The American Museum Of Natural History this Saturday.

What:NYC International Polar Festival

When:Saturday, May 29, noon–5 pm

Where:Kaufmann and Linder theaters, Grand Gallery, first floor
The American Museum of Natural History
79 Street And Central Park West
New York, NY 10024